popped into my head.” I tighten the blanket around myself, covering my breasts. “How do you know about Pricolici and demons?”
“It’s what I do,” he answers. “I hunt them.”
“You hunt demons?”
“Yes. That’s why I was in the woods. I’d been tracking the Pricolici, trying to figure out who the target is so I could save them and get the demonic mark off their heads. I think you’re the target, Anora.”
Again, I nod, thinking back to the first time one of those things—a Pricolici—went after me. I knew the way it looked at me, the way it sniffed at me wasn’t normal. It was like it was trying to identify me, and now I know it was. “More are going to come, aren’t they?”
“Yes.” He eyes Hunter, hesitating for a second before coming over and sitting on the opposite side of the couch. “Most people freak out when they’re told demons are after them.” It’s a statement, but I hear the question in his voice. “But you don’t seem fazed.” His eyes narrow a bit, still not trusting that I told the truth. Who does he think I could be?
I twist a corner of the blanket in my hands. “It’s not the first time I saw one of those dog-creature things.”
“Pricolici.”
“Yeah, that.”
“You saw one before and lived to tell the tale?” He hikes his brows. “How the fuck did you manage that?”
“I don’t know. It was that day we met. I told you I fell off my horse, which was true. The same Pricolici that attacked us today spooked him and I fell. If Mystery hadn’t struck out and hit it in the face…I thought it was going to attack me, but it kind of just…just looked at me. It sounds crazy, I know.”
“It doesn’t.” Ethan lets out a breath and his whole body relaxes. “I want to help you, Anora, and keeping secrets will only make things more difficult.”
“I’m not keeping secrets. I’ve probably said too much as it is.” I push my damp hair back. “Did you kill it? The Pricolici?”
“I didn’t have to. Your dog ripped its throat out.”
“Good boy,” I whisper to Hunter and his tail wags, thumping against the couch.
“Where did you get the dagger?”
“My aunt sent it to me for my birthday.”
“Your aunt that recently died?” he asks.
“Yes.”
Ethan eyes me again, still looking like he thinks I’m lying, but also like he thinks I might freak out and attack him without notice. He stares at me for a few seconds, then inhales and shakes his head at his own thoughts. “Are you still cold? You’re shivering.”
I am, but it’s also the shock of everything finally weighing on me. I’ve never even had regular bounty hunters after me before.”
“Most people haven’t,” he says with a smirk. “I won’t let them get to you, Anora.” He rests his hand on my thigh. I can feel the warmth of his palm through the thin fleece blanket. Our gazes meet, and the contempt in his eyes is gone, replaced by a hunger that sends desire tingling through me.
“Here.” He takes off the flannel button up he has on over a plain black t-shirt. “I doubt your clothes are dry yet.”
“Thanks.” I slip my arms through the sleeves, material warm from his body heat. “What exactly is a Pricolici?” I ask as I try to do the buttons. My fingers are trembling so bad I fumble. Ethan notices and moves closer, reaching out and taking my hands in his. The same rush goes through me, and I’m starting to warm up fast.
“They used to be men,” Ethan starts and lowers my hands into my lap. I take in a shaky breath and look down, watching him pull the shirt together and push the bottom button through the buttonhole. “Evil men with tainted souls who are sought out by demons and turned into monsters. The more they kill, the stronger they become, transforming from men to wolves. The demon who created them controls them and uses them to do their bidding.” He pops another two buttons into place. “If the Pricolici have been sent after you, someone powerful wants you dead. Can you think of any reason why someone would send them after you?”
I shake my head. “No. I don’t have any enemies that I know of. I don’t really have that many friends either, if I’m being honest, and if I pissed off a powerful demon, I did so without knowing it. I didn’t know demons existed in this sense